Steering wheel



A. L. WARMINGTON April 10, 1928.

STEERING WHEEL Filed Apri 2'7. 192'? ATTORNEY 15 ofthe steering wheel-by a slight movement Paten d Apr. 10, 1928. llliml I r I i l v V ..anr -run IL, WARMI1\TGTON,, o oA rA nQoA rronNre TEERING W EEL Application filed April 27,1921 Seria1;'1\T0.,13,929

Thisinvention relates in general to steer? nected at the lower.endjto a steering'gear: ing-gears in use on vehicles,particularly to ofvany 'standard..-=type not-,shown in the. steering-gears used on automobiles. l drawing. The-upperendthereof -bein'g.. coIt-.1

The object of the invention is ,to'provide structediimthe .shapelof a hub 9"havinganx'ioo ,5 a device whichwill reduce toa..minimum internal-g'eanlO.cut thereon." Saidinternal theeffort necessary to steer-the front wheels. gear'10 to becutto the same. pitehastl1ati of a parked vehicle; I of the gear6. on theclutch- 4inorderto per 'Anoth'enobject, o-f the' invention is to mitan' operativeengagement"thereby. i

prgvide-a deviceforreadily changing the A hole 11 extends from .the hub 7-)dOWI1F-ffil5 ratio -between: the (turning moment of the Wardly into the column 8. to .slidably.re.-.fv steeringiwheel..andth'e turning of the front. cei-ve and guide .thesleeVe 12,=-saidsleeve.- I wheelsofa vehicles v l i i 12-be'ing-an integral part of the .cluteh4;

A further object-of -the-inventionis to Pinions 13 are rotatably secured to the.

effect the adjustmentgof the turning moment hub. 9 by means of pins 14. r 70 A. steering column jacket: 15 ffastenedito. thereof: t I I I the vehicle frame in any standard ;way, .not;-

With these and otherobjects in view the shown, supports the steering -IHQChaI1iSIII.Z A'- present; invention consists in- 'th'e combinabevel gear 16 forms the headeofsaid jacket 5 i {tions'and-arrangements of parts, as will be 15. Another bevel gear 17 i sinl meshwith-1175 2 hereinafter more fully described, shown in the gpinions .13 and. 'rests thereoni FA; gearr' the-accompanying drawings; andparticucasing: 18 is carried bysaid: bevelcuear -17 larly pointad out; in the appended claims, so'that thegclutch 4 is slidableagthereint 'it being under'stood -that changes may be jaw 19..-isi cut--into ,thebevelledgear-:17 to-Lv made within the scope of the claims without mesh with the claws 7 of the clutch 4. The 80 p departing from the spiritor sacrificingany pinions 13 and bevelled gears .16 and 17 l of the advantages of the invent-ion. function as a planetary reduction gearing In the accompanying one sheet of draw when the clutch 4 is in engagement wit-h the ing: bevelled gear. 17. The clutch 41is slidable Figure 1 is a sectional view of the device through a hole-20 centrally disposed in said 85. shownattached to atsteering wheel. gear 17 and casing 18. I e

Figure 2 is a cross section taken along the In order to guidethe movement of the line 2-2 of Figure 1. V A clutch a guide rod 21 is screwed into the I The steering wheels in use at the present column 6 extending through clutch 4 and may be easily operated when the vehicle is through and'above the lock nut 5. .Acap 22 as in motion but in'someinstances it is almost is attached to the upper end of they rod 21 impossible to steer the front wheels of a. to limit the upward motionof the lock nut 5. vehicle when the vehicle is standing still. The clearance between the lock nut 5.and It is especially hard to steer the front cap 22 is just large enough to allow claws 17 wheels of any vehicle having balloon tires on the clutch 4' to be ,elevatedinto-engage- 40 thereon. The balloon tires gripthe ground ment with the jaw 19 "butto prevent any I I more firmly than the standard sized tires on further upward movement of the clutch account of having a larger frictionalsurthereby to obviate the danger of the lifting face. There is a great demand for a steerof the bevelledgear 17 andhous ing 18. ing device, which may be adjusted to pro- The device operates as follows: 15 duce force enough to steerthe wheelsof a The drawing illustrates the device in the, vehicle at a standstill employing only a normal position when the vehicle is in m0 minimum efi'ort'on the part of the driver. tion. The gear 6 of the clutch 4 is held in A preferred form of the device employs a engagement with the internal gear 10 by steering wheel 1 having the steering spider gravity. When the driver of the vehicle so 2,.and a hub 3 thereon. A clutch 4 is rotates the steering wheel 1 the clutch 4 bethreaded into the hub 3 and is held in place ing secured to said steering wheel rotates by means of a lock nut 5. A gear 6, of therewith, thereby transmitting the rotation large circular pitch and the claws 7 on the thereof to the steering column 8. The pintop surface thereof has a clutch function to ions 13 and the bevelled gear 17 revolve idly 1' 0 5 behereinafter described. with the column 8.

A steering column 8 is operatively con- When the vehicle is parked and the driver intends to steer the front wheel is lifted as far as thecap 22 permits, 7 clutch. 4 from the; column 8 and bringing the clutch in operagear 17." In

planetary. gearingl may-be so designed as to" pinions 13.

thereby disengaging the tive relation withithe bevelled this case the rotation of thesteering wheel is transmitted to the bevelled gear 17 and the Said pinions 13 [rotate the column 8 at a muchless speed than the rotation of'the steering wheel. For instance, the

efiectrafl ,to 1 reductionyof speed. :Inthis on, of the steering It is understood that the the columns to steer ductiongearing is approximately half of the the column 8 directly from the steering wheel.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as. novel and desire to secure by Letters Patent. is: V 1. A steering wheel, a-clutch attached thereto, a steering column havin I tothe column,

means thereon to be engaged by said Iclutc a gear attached to'the stationary me her of the steering device, radially protruding pinions, rotatably secure-d wheel, the steering Yto besupported ing wheel, a clutch attached thereto,

ions and supported; thereon, ving attached to v v p 7 y to be supported thereon, device comprising a steering column to guide said clutch and meshing with said gear, a] 1 mesh with said pinions an'd thereon, and means toalterwith said column floating gear to nately engage said clutch and said floating gear. a

2. Ast'eering device, comprising a steera steering column having means gaged by said clutch,agear attached to the stationary member of the steering device,

thereon to be en'- V radially protruding pinions rotatably secured to the column,'-and meshingwith said gear, a floating gear in meshwith said pin-" a floating cas:

to alternately column and said floating gear. v 3. A steering device, comprising a'steering column having means thereon by said clutch, a gear attache-d to the sta: tionary member ally protruding pinions rotatably secured'to the column, and meshing with said ge'ar,-a' floating gear to mesh with said pinions and engage said clutch with said column and said floating gear, and a guide secured to the and to limit the movement thereof. 7 I p In testimony whereofI aflix my signature.

said floatin'g'gean'and means 7 engage said clutch w1th'sa1d,

wheel, a clutch attached theret 0, a steeringc i r to be engaged of the steering device,,radi-;

means to alternately ARTHUR n waniimerong 

